CiscoAironetAccessPointDeploymentGuide
CiscoSystems
Copyright©2012CiscoSystems,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
Page44of52
Note:Inordertobeamformtoclientsusingthreespatialstreams,sincethreetransmittersare
used in the transmissions, the AP needs at least one additional radio to beamform. The AP
3600hasfourradiosperbandandcanbeamformtoclientsusingthreespatialstreams.
To summarize, ClientLink
2.0 takes the received signals heard from the client on the uplink and
calculates howthe multipathsignal lookedfrom thosestreams.Then,on thereciprocal side(transmit
downlink),ClientLink2.0usesallfourradiostofigureouttheoptimalwaytoformthesignal(transmit
beamforming) toenable the client
tobest decode(receive the signal on the downlink) with theleast
amountofretries.
ClientLink2.0with anAP3 600enablesbeamformingtoall802.11nclients,including3SSclients,andcan
dosoforupto128clientsatatime.TheAP 1600supportsfewerclients(32)and
doesnotsupport3SS.
ClientLink 1.0 supported a maximum of 15 clients at a time. ClientLink 2.0 significantly improves
throughputandcoverage upto60% onthedownlink sideformuchbetter 802.11nclient connectivity
andforenhancingtheBringYourOwnDevice(BYOD)experience.
FormoreinformationonCiscoClientLink
2.0,refertothefollowingURL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps11983/at_a_glance_c45‐691984.pdf
SiteSurveyConsiderations
WhileClientLink dynamically beamformsand helpsto maintaina robustsignal, whichresults infewer
retries,itwasnotdesignedtochange thecellrange.ClientLinkcreates abetterconnectionexperience,
notalargercellsize.
For this reason, during a site survey, it is important to keep in mind
that the AP 3600 cell sizes are
generallythesameorverysimilartootherCiscoaccesspoints.Figure58depictstypicalrangesinthe1‐
54 Mbps range. While Cisco always recommends that you survey with the equipment you intend to
deploy, an earlier survey done with an AP 3500,
for example, would not be invalid for an AP 3600
deployment. Figures 59 and 60 provide examples of the modulation types and signal‐to‐noise ratio
(SNR).